Saturday, February 13, 2016

Saudi Arabia will send fighter jets to Turkish base in preparation for anti-ISIS bombing campaign as the conflict threatens to escalate in the region

Saudi Arabia is set to move fighter jets to its base in Turkey in preparation for a possible bombing campaign against ISIS jihadists in Syria.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed the potential plan and suggested Turkey were also considering military options against ISIS.

'If there is a strategy (against ISIS) then Turkey and Saudi Arabia could enter into a ground operation,' Mr Cavusoglu said after the Munich Security Conference.

Saudi Arabia is set to move fighter jets to its base in Turkey in preparation for a possible bombing campaign against ISIS jihadists in Syria

Russia suggested it might not stop its air strikes, even when the cessation of hostilities takes effect in a week

'Saudi Arabia is also sending planes to Turkey, to (the base of) Incirlik,' he said.

'They (Saudi officials) came, did a reconnaissance of the base. At the moment it is not clear how many planes will come.'

The news comes as two Syrian rebel commanders told Reuters they had been sent 'excellent quantities' of ground-to-ground Grad missiles by foreign backers.

The missiles have a range of 20 km (12 miles) and are expected to be used to confront the Russian-backed offensive.

Foreign opponents of Assad including Saudi Arabia and Turkey have been supplying vetted rebel groups with weapons via a Turkey-based operations centre.

Some of the vetted groups have received military training overseen by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Saudi Arabian jets fly over in formation above the King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would not stop bombing fighters from ISIS and a rebel group called the Nusra Front

The news comes as two Syrian rebel commanders told Reuters they had been sent 'excellent quantities' of ground-to-ground Grad missiles by foreign backers

Russia suggested it might not stop its air strikes, even when the cessation of hostilities takes effect in a week.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would not stop bombing fighters from ISIS and a rebel group called the Nusra Front, which is affiliated with al Qaeda, neither of which were covered by the cessation deal. 'Our airspace forces will continue working against these organisations,' he said.

Moscow has always said that those two jihadist groups are the principal targets of its air campaign. Western countries say Russia, in fact, has been attacking mostly other insurgent groups. Turkey's foreign minister said on Friday Russia was targeting schools and hospitals in Syria.

Turkish soldiers kill time on guard duty in the town of Suruc, near the long Syrian border

It remains unclear whether Saudi's involvement in Syria will happen when it is also fighting in Yemen